Played at the Sassanian Cricket Club between two experienced corporate teams namely Lintas and Omni global, it was Lintas who won the toss and elected to field first in order to restrict Omni Global to a low total and put them under pressure while chasing.
Batting first, Omni Global made a decent score of 225/10 in 45 overs which is anyday a defendable score. Even though the team felt some early jitters but it was Ajeet Chauhan at no.4 who resurrected the innings back with a timely 96 off 91deliveries(11fours, 1six). Falling just 4runs short of a deserving ton, Ajeet took on the bowlers and looked really confident against them while he also good support from Pranav Shalankar who scored a handy 42 off 50balls (4fours). From Lintas, Waqar Khan was the pick of the bowlers bagging 4/55 in 9overs.
Lintas were skittled out for just 91runs in 21.5 overs where in Rounak Kulkarni with 4/11 in 1.5 overs bowled a match winning spell. Raunak was the most impressive of the lot while Amit Sawant & Omkar Maldikar took 3wkts each. Omni Global won the match by 94runs and Ateet Chauhan was declared ‘man of the match’
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One of the most intenseful months of the year i.e December 2017 was equally a commendable one for the bowlers too where they single handedly helped their team win the matches. Some bowling spells came at a time where the teams needed them to fire and these bowlers just proved their class coming up with exceptional perfomance during crunch situations.
After a grueling session of shortlisting where there were more than 100 5wkt hauls all over Mumbai, our team finally came up with the top 5 which stood out in Mumbai Cricket for the month of December 2017.
Joint 5th-Pravin Tambe- 7/57- Purshottam Shield Tournament ’17, Right-arm spinner
One of the best leg-break bowlers of India and also one of the most experienced bowlers of Mumbai cricket who was picked up by the Rajasthan Royals in IPL at the age of 41 purely on the basis of talent in 2013- Pravin Tambe keeps on raising his class with his effortless spin bowling. Even at this age he is giving young players a run for their money and one of his recent exploits came in the Purshottam Shield Tournament ’17 where he single handedly ran through the batting line up of Muslim United to fetch his team a great win.
Played at the iconic DY Patil Stadium, DY Patil opted to field first & restricted Muslim United to just 78runs all out and we all know the major reason for that destruction. It was Tambe who came up with 7/57 in 10.1 overs. DY Patil chased down the score in mere 10.2 overs and won the match comfortably on the back of Tambe’s bowling.
5th– Ashwin Shelke- 5/9, Dreamz T20 Tournament, Left-arm spinner
The spinner who bamboozled the batsman with his effortless spin in Kanga, the spinner who was amongst the leading wicket takers this year in Kanga continues to yield his magic in the Dreamz Tournament too as he again came up with match winning bowling figures to steer his team towards a thrilling win.
Played at the Oval Ground vs Deutcshe Bank CIB, United Patni were made to bat first as they made 128/6 in 20 overs which is not the biggest of scores to defend. However, Shelke helped his team defend even such a low total as he came up with amazing bowling figures of 5/9 in 4 overs which restricted Deutsche Bank to just 70runs. United Patni won the match & it was surely Ashwin who was responsible for that win.
4th– Prithvi Salian- 7/17, Jolly Cup 2017, Right-arm leg spinner
13yr old Prithvi Salian has been a talented prodigy right from his early days. His bowling action, his line and length and consistency at which he bowls has always impressed even the critics and he proves it in a recent match where he came up with simply amazing bowling spell which helped steer his team to a big win.
Played at the Jolly Gymkhana Ground in Mumbai between Fatima High School and RN Gandhi School where in Fatima school won the toss and elected to bat first since they have a good batting line up. Batting first, Fatima Boys made a good total of 249 in 35 overs which is quite a competitive total to defend. RN Gandhi chasing were in for a shock as they were skittled out for mere 50runs on the back of Prithvi’s 7/17 in 5.3 overs. Fatima High school won the match by a big margin and it was Prithvi who caught everyone’s attention with his terrific bowling.
3rd– Sharik Baloch- 8/14, Vasai Colts Under-16 Tournament, Off-Spinner
Well Sharik is already a known face now in Mumbai cricket with his bowling exploits and this is also not the first time he is getting featured for his perfomance. Such has been the progress of sharik with the ball that he keeps on impressing at regular occasions to keep his stakes high. Sharik’s latest exploits came at the right time as it was the finals of the Vasai Colts Under-16 tournament in Mumbai.
Played between National English High School and MGPM school at the Chimaji Appa Cricket Ground in Vasai, National CC won the toss and elected to bat first as the wicket had something for the batsman. Batting first, National School made 152/9 in 45 overs which was definitely not the best of the scores to defend. Howewer, National School had their trump card in Sharik who even made a total of 153 difficult. Sharik once again bamboozled the batsman with his wily off spin. Sharik came up with match winning bowling figures of 8/14 in 14 overs. What’s more his 8wkt haul also included a hat-trick as he single handedly demolished the MGPM’s batting line up helping his team win the match by 53runs.
2nd– Bakul Shah- 7/18 in a T20 match, Masters Cup, 2017, right-arm off spinner
Played at the Vengsarkar Academy at Mahul, this match witnessed bowling figures by a talented bowler which is a rarity in t20’s. Bakul Shah came up with a 7wkt haul in a t20 match which allows only 4 overs to the bowlers which means he took a wicket on every 4th ball he bowled.
Trafigura who won the toss elected to bowl first and their decision seemed to have worked completely as they restricted ICICI to just 118runs in 20 overs with their openers top scoring with 20’s. The bowler who inflicted maximum damage and single handedly ran through the entire batting line up of ICIC was medium pacer Bakul Shah as he came up with amazing bowling figures of 7/18 in 4 overs. Right-arm off spinner Bakul kept on giving important breakthroughs and hardly allowed anyone to settle with his excellent line and length which reaped rewards not only for him but also for his team. His team chased down the score successfully and won the match by 4wkts where Bakul was declared ‘man of the match’
& finally make way for the no.1-
1st– Chris D Britto- 8/8, Giles Shield Tournament 2017, left-arm spinner
Cricket never fails to amaze us. Time and again we come across matches and individual performances which are just too hard to believe. But that’s the beauty of the game and that is also the reason the game is surviving and evolving since more than last 100 years. One boy who has taken all the batsmen by storm is this little chap Chris who has been bowling consistently well throughout the tournament. Just fresh from a 5wkt haul he took in the last match, chris comes up with a bang with another 8wkt haul to grab everyone’s attention.
Played at the Sunder CC, Cross maidan between Parle Tilak English Medium School and Don Bosco High school, Parle Tilak won the toss and elected to bat first. Their decision did not turn out to be the best as Parle Tilak were all out for 131/10 in 52 overs. On the other hand, Don Bosco notched up a decent total of 232/9decl in 71 overs where in Nutan Goel top scored with 46 at the lower middle order while Dhawal from Parle Tilak took 3wkts.
Batting in the 2nd innings, Parle Tilak were least aware of the storm which was unleashed on them as their left-arm spinner Chris Britto came up with match winning bowling figures of 8/8 in 9.3overs(7maidens). The tight bowling coupled with excellent line and length enabled chris to single handedly demolish the entire batting line up of Parle Tilak which eventually helped his team Don Bosco win the match by an innings. Chris has certainly been a revelation with as many as 28wkts so far in the Giles Shield.
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Attiitude is an international apparel brand, based out of London, United Kingdom with presence in India. The brand is for all those who are not afraid to wear their rebellious streak on sleeve. Attiitude could have not found a better brand ambassador than Chris Gayle, who is one of the most destructive batsmen in international cricket, to be the face of the brand. In collaboration with Cricketgraph.com, Attiitude has launched awards for the best batsman, best bowler, and best fielder.
Opening bat, Sagar shah was awarded the Cricketer with Attiitude awards for his brilliant knock of 101* off just 42 balls. His innings was decorated with 9 fours and 7 sixes. Due to Sagar’s knock , his team Knights posted a team total of 200/3 in 15 overs.
Sagar was awarded a sexy black Attiitude branded hoodie for this amazing performance.
Attiitude will be back next week with a new winner, till then Cricketgraph and Attiitude signs off.
Played at the Shivaji Park Gymkhana between Rustomjee International School and Vibgyor High School, Vibgyor won the toss and elected to bat first with an aim of making a big 1st innings total to put the opposition under pressure.
Vibgyor did the right thing batting first as they notched up 273runs on the board. Even though most of the players struggled to convert their 10’s and 20’s, it was their prolific opener Vedanta Gadia who impressed one and all with his rock solid yet aggressive batting smashing 142 off 91balls. Vedanta kept on playing his natural game effortlessly despite the wickets from the other end were falling. Smashing 19furs, Vedanta played at a strike rate of more than 150 counter-attacking the bowlers with his flawless batting.
Defending a total of 274 runs, Vedanta mesmerized the spectators and the opposition with the ball too as he came up with a match winning bowling spell of 7/54 in 13overs (2maidens). Vedanta who already stamped his authority as an opener made sure he covered the bowling department too with his terrific left arm spin. Jyotish Chugnani with 2wkts and 26runs also contributed well in the game as Rustomjee School were all out for 117 runs. Vibgyor won the match by 156runs and Vedanta surely stood out in the match.
There was a selection Trial tournament held recently by MCA and they got to play 3 matches. Vedanta scored 259 runs in 3 matches /4 innings too.
1st match – 51 & 2nd innings 17 n.o
2nd match – 66
3rd match – 124
Even in October he scored a double hundred in the Under 14 CPCC Tournament.
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Maxtalent Global Sports has already become a household name in Dubai, thanks to the
persistent efforts of Mr. Sudhakar Shetty, that are aimed at taking Dubai cricket to a higher
level. This academy is not a typical place where the budding cricketers come, practise, and
leave. But there is something more to it. The students of this academy are fortunate to seek
guidance from many of the former cricketers. For instance, by Saqlain Mushtaq on during
2017 visited the Maxtalent Global Sports academy in the summer of 2017 to impart training
on spin bowling. Under the banner of Maxtalent Master Spin Class, the young and budding
cricketers got a chance to not only interact with the spinning wizard but also seek first hand
coaching from him.
After the success of Maxtalent Master Spin Class, Mr. Shetty thought of doing something
similar for the batsmen of his academy. The batting equivalent of Maxtalent Master Spin
Class which was called the Maxtalent Master Batting Class was conducted during the last
four of December 2017 (December 28 – December 31). The students of the academy could
not have asked for a better new year gift than this. The four-day camp was conducted by none
other than one of the India’s finest batsmen; Lalchand Rajput, at Al Nasr Sports Club Dubai.
“The after thought was that the Maxtalent Master Batting Class might not match the success
of Maxtalent Master Spin Class. However, to our pleasant surprise, Maxtalent Master Batting
Class exceeded our expectations. Even though it was holiday period, the turnout was
tremendous. We even had aspiring cricketers from Abu-Dhabi and Fujairah turning up for all
the four days of Maxtalent Master Batting Class programme”, exclaimed Mr. Shetty.
The former India Player, 2007 Team India T20 World Cup Winning coach, India A Team
coach, Mumbai Indians coach, an integral part in getting Afghanistan to Test playing nation
status as head coach, a Consultant & Patron of Maxtalent Trust program
#towards_being_equal and Adivasi development program in Maharashtra, the maestro
batsman Lalchand Rajput made the optimum utilization of the time available and shared the
tricks and trades of batting business. Using Virat Kohli as an example, he laid strong
emphasis on diet and fitness, and expressed that the discipline with respect to eating habits
and exercise complement the cricketing skills of the players. Besides providing and sharing
in-depth batting techniques to trainees between the age group of 12 and 19 years, he himself
got into action. He demonstrated the technical flaws and justified the reasons for failure of
batsmen with poor technique.
To test the knowledge and skills that were absorbed by the players during the camp, an
internal match was played. The temperament of the players during different match situations
was also gauged during the course of play. After the match, Jardel Pereira, a trainee at
Maxtalent averred, “Shot making has now become much more simplified after executing the
techniques that were told by Lalchand sir”.
The last session of Maxtalent Master Batting Class was meant for the coaches. The coaches
engaged in brainstorming session with Rajput, who provided not only valuable inputs to
improve players’ fitness, but also prepare the players for crunch match situation. He also
addressed the queries regarding the challenges faced by coaches while coaching the players.
The former India player was of the opinion that the coaches should adapt according to the
players and understand that every player is different. His parting message to the coaches was
to get to know about newer techniques, out of the box training methods, and to make the art
of cricket teaching more interesting.
On conclusion of the Master Class, trophies were handed out by Lalchand Rajput to Kris
Dholaki, Vinayak Maharaj, and Aryan Vijaykumar, students of Maxtalent Global Sports.
Played at the Sainath Sports Club in Virar, two really talented teams namely Holy Family Convent High School and National School took on each other where in Holy Convent won the toss and elected to bat first expecting the wicket to have something for the bowlers.
However, they were in for a shock when they were severely reduced to just 34runs all out in 13.3 overs. Medium Pacer Princely Perriera and slow left arm spinner Himanshu Rane demolished the opposition with their razor sharp bowling. Both the boys Prince who took 4/9 in 5 overs(2maidens) and Himanshu who took 4/5 in 3.2overs (1maiden) bowled at really impressive line and length not allowing a single batsman to score runs freely.
National School chased down the score comfortably in 4.5 overs and won the match by 9wkts. Both these boys Princely and Himanshu stood out with their amazing bowling. They are improving day by day in terms of consistency and discipline & they are certainly looking promising for bigger things as they grow up.
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After an intenseful tournament which witnessed some great matches and individual performances, it was the all important finals between Payyade Sports Club and Varraoc Vengsarkar Cricket academy where in Payyade won the toss and elected to field first.
Opting to field first, Payyade successfully restricted VVCA to 171runs in 45 overs. A total of 171 is definitely not the best of the totals to defend and especially in the finals. Kiran More was the lone fighter scoring a valiant 100 off 171deliveries which helped VVCA to escape embarrassment of a low total. Atharva Poojary with 3wkts was the pick of the bowlers while the rest of the bowlers also did a commendable job of not allowing the batsman to score runs freely.
Chasing 172, VVCA were off to a flying start with the ball as Payyade were struggling at one point on 3runs for 2wickets down. However, two dependable names and also one of the most promising names in Mumbai cricket, Musheer Khan and Mumbai Skipper Divyansh Saxena stitched a match-changing 169run stand between them to push their team to a thriller of a win. Musheer Khan scored an unbeaten 54* while the in-form Divyansh smashed a stroke-filled 102* taking the game away from the opposition. Payyade won the finals by 8wkts & Divyansh Saxena was awarded ‘Man of the Final’ as well as the ‘Man of the Series’. Atharva Ankolekar got the ‘Best Bowler Award’ for taking 10 wickets. Other Contributors for Winners were also Suved Parkar with 133 runs and Vignesh Solanki with 9 wickets in the tournament.
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Played at the Union Cricket Academy (Wayle Nagar, Kalyan). Two promising teams namely SV Joshi School and Smt. Sulochandevi School took on each other where in SV Joshi won the toss and elected to field first expecting the wicket to support the bowlers and restrict the opposition to a low total.
Singhania School hardly appeared to be bothered after made to bat first as they notched up a very good total of 288/9 in 45overs. After a decent start by the openers, Tejas who came in at no.3 took on the bowlers right from the start as he went on to score an attacking 142 coming of mere 97balls. Tejas who smashed 19fours and 2sixes made his bat do the talking once again as he played some really good cricketing shots with great confidence. The rest of the batsman failed to convert their starts but eventually Tejas’s 142 helped his team reach a very healthy total. Medium pacer Chirag Suvare with 2/29 was the pick of the bowlers while the rest of the bowlers also did a fairly decent job.
Made to chase 289 against a strong bowling attack of Singhania which also includes the dependable and in form Aryan, SV Joshi boys were bundled out for mere 57runs in 19overs. Aryan Dalal was once again the pick of the bowlers with 4/24 in 9 overs while off-spinner Anuj Iyer with 3/2 in 4 overs(2maidens) was equally impressive. Singhania School won the match in a dominating fashion on the back of Tejas Chavan’s ton and some good bowling by Aryan and Anuj.
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Two talented teams clashed against each other namely St.Joseph and Gokuldham high school at the ever dependable Shivaji Park where in St.Joseph won the toss and elected to bat first with an aim of putting Gokuldham boys under pressure by making a big total.
However, St. Joseph boys were in for a shock when the talented spin duo of Aryan Shetty and Khush Jain attacked together in tandem. Both the off-spinners bamboozled the batsmen with their amazing spin as they took 9wkts in between them. While Aryan came up with mesmerizing bowling figures of 5/11 in 8.1 overs while Khush played the supporting role with perfection as he took 4/23 in 12 overs(4maidens). Both the bowlers looked really promising as St.Joseph were skittled out for mere 90runs in 28.1 overs.
Chasing 91, hitman Roneet Thakkur who is now known for his aggressive batting once again finished of the chase in pure style as he scored a breath-taking 52 off mere 16deliveries(8fours, 3sixes) much to the entertainment of his team mates and the spectators. Gokuldham eventually won the match by 8wkts on the back of these 3 boys-Aryan, Khush and Roneet who stood out with their individual performances.
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Played at their home turf on PJ Hindu Gymkhana at Marine Lines vs the experienced Apollo CC. PJ hindu Gymkhana won the toss and elected to bat first as they have a strong batting line up to make a decent 1st innings total.
Batting first, they did live up to their expectations as they notched up a healthy total of 277/9 which is anyday defendable. Opener Nishad was out for a duck but his opening partner Anup Revandkar went on to score an impressive hundred hardly taking any time. Right handed Anup scored a 105ball 115 (13fours) which included some stately shots which were nothing but pleasing to the eyes. Anup also did good running between the wickets which kept the scoreboard ticking. Apart from him, Sujit Harvi (48) was the 2nd highest scorer falling just 2short of a deserving half century. Fast bowler Prateesh Madhvan was the pick of the bowlers with impressive bowling figures of 4/44 in 8 overs.
Chasing 278 is definitely not a cakewalk even though opener Akshay Pancharia (84 off 99b) and no.4 Sairaj Sangle (81 off 84b) resurrected the innings back with a 137run stand. Salil Agharkar and Pawan Kumar were the pick of the bowler with 2wkts each as they restricted Apollo CC to 269/7 falling short of just 9runs in an equally impressive chase. It was match which remained exciting till the very last over while Anup’s ton played a big role in PJ Hindu Gymkhana’s win.
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